Missing couple's UTV may have been swept away by flash floods near Moab

GRAND COUNTY, Utah — The search for a missing couple in Grand County, just outside Moab, continued Wednesday.

Latest reports indicate the couple's all-terrain utility vehicle (UTV) may have been swept away by flash flooding.

Ray and Maranda Ankofski, originally from Texas, were last seen Friday afternoon. Their family became concerned when they did not leave their hotel on Sunday.

Flash flooding hit the area over the weekend and officials said a man told them he thought there might still be a couple on the Steel Bender off-road trail when he strayed off the trail.

A Utah Department of Public Safety helicopter flew over the canyon, but those on board saw no one.

On Monday, search and rescue teams found the couple's UTV near the trail.

In a new interview Wednesday, Grand County Sheriff's Office Deputy Mike Palmer said that when the vehicle was found, there was little left of it.

“It looks like probably once the flood hit the UTV, we think it traveled between three-quarters and a mile, pushed it into the basin and out of the waterfall,” Palmer said. “Their tools and belongings are scattered over a three-mile area in this canyon.”

Palmer said when floods hit the area, they can bring hundreds of thousands of gallons of water and debris.

He added that it was an extensive search that lasted three days, involving thousands of hours of work. And while he said efforts will be scaled back, they won't stop until they find the couple. The search will resume on Thursday.

FOX 13 News also spoke with Ryan Talbot, who volunteered to help search for the couple.

Talbot lives in the remote area where the couple disappeared. He knows the region well.

“Part of the reason I went there is because I put myself in their shoes, you know, being in a remote place and having something like this happen to a member of your family, and …I couldn't do anything,” he said. . “That's why I wanted to help, because I would hate to be in that situation. I hope there are better angels that would step in and help me if it was my family.”

Authorities say they have found several of the couple's belongings. Additionally, Palmer found a cooler that authorities believe was on the couple's UTV.

However, based on what he saw and heard, Palmer said it didn't appear they were actually in the UTV when it was taken away.